No sustainable mechanism to destroy crops' waste: Senate body informed

Pakistan burns over three million metric ton rice husk each year, besides incineration of different crops waste in millions of tons, and this has been causing smog in some major cities like Lahore. This was informed to Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change that was held in the Parliament House on Monday in the chair of Senator Mir Muhammad Yousuf Badini.
Briefing the committee members about causes of fog and smog in different cities of the country, the director general Environmental Protection Agency informed the committee members that farmers burn the rice husk and their crops to clear farming land as there is no sustainable mechanism available to collect and dispose of the waste.
Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid informed the committee members that farmers in India collect their rice husk and waste of other crops at a specific location for sustainable dispose of and the government pays them for their effort. He, however, admitted that no sustainable mechanism to destroy the crops' waste is available in Pakistan.
The minister said that Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had taken notice of smog and fog in Lahore and a detailed report on the issue would be presented before the committee within 15 days. Zahid Hamid also briefed the committee members about Pakistan's participation in COP-22 that was recently held in Marrakech where the issue of climate change was discussed in length.
The minister said that it requires at least $40 billion to reduce impact of the climate change by 20 percent and Pakistan can initiate the adaptation and mitigation measures if the required funds are provided. Pakistan is one of the ten countries that are stated to be most vulnerable to adverse impacts of the climate change. The committee members were also briefed in detail about migratory birds and formation of an endowment fund of Rs 250 million for their conservation.
The chairman of the committee, however, said that the government should try to utilise these funds for betterment and welfare of the locals where these migratory birds land during the summer instead of allowing foreigners to hunt the endangered birds like houbara bustard. The minister said that the government has adopted a fair process of granting hunting licenses to foreign dignitaries in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in this matter. The committee was also briefed about Development Plan-2030 under which the government has set 17 targets to meet with the help of ministry of planning and development and some other relevant departments, but the work on it is in the initial stages.